A true crime podcast hosted by Robin Warder

The Trail Went Cold – Episode 5 – Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos

October 1, 2003. Naples, Florida. A Mexican national named Felipe Santos gets into a minor traffic accident and mysteriously disappears after being taken into custody by the police. Three months later, another Naples man named Terrance Williams also vanishes without explanation after being pulled over for a routine traffic stop. What makes this story so unusual is that both men were last seen being taken into custody by the same police officer: Corporal Steve Calkins. Was this all just a very bizarre coincidence or was Calkins responsible for the disappearance of both men? Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I examine one of the most controversial missing persons cases of recent memory.

The starlight tour would make sense with why he moved the car and left the keys outside of it as well; when Terrance finally got back he wouldn’t have to contact anyone to be able to reclaim his car. Once he realized there were too many witnesses, he rethought the scenario and had the car towed.
It’s possible I’m just easily buying into the theory though, since I know of someone sent on a “starlight tour”.

The Starlight Tour theory is ridiculous. I’ve only ever heard of this being done in Canada, first of all. It’s pretty much an urban myth as far as I’m concerned. But let’s just say it was a case of a ST one bad. Twice. Was there a time frame on the day of both disappearances where the sheriff was unaccounted for? Did it correspond with the time when said parties went missing? A little research, Robin would clear that theory up quickly.

As I said in a prior post, this is an open and closed case of a cop who killed two minorities. It’s been happening in the US more and more lately. I think you even posting this story and giving multiple theories is irresponsible.

When investigating crimes/disappearances, multiple theories should always be looked into, even if one theory is believed by most. Far too many miscarriages of justice have been caused by the police only investigating leads that aid their theory (including several cases where public pressure almost force police to convict their first suspect).

(For the record though, I do believe these particular cases were not handled correctly, and that things would have turned out different if Santos and Williams were last reported in the company of a person who was not a police officer.)

I’m leaning towards serial killer cop. Just because serial killers as a whole tend to be highly intelligent and good at covering their tracks, doesn’t mean that ALL serial killers are that smart. I could buy a cop being arrogant enough to think that he could do something this brazen and not face any consequences because- let’s face it- it wouldn’t be the first time. I’m sure if the department hadn’t fired him, there would have been another mysterious disappearance, and he may have been smart enough to keep his name out of it next time. As for the starlight tour theory, if you think that there’s not at LEAST one victim of this who would not only speak out but try to sue the department for that, you don’t know America. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I don’t think it’s very likely.

Police have history of getting away with some shady stuff, especially against minorities. I wouldn’t be shocked to find that this officer killed those two men, and I would say even now that he’s off the force, someone should keep an eye on him.

The way you’ve dismissed both of these killings as an accident because this cop was respected, by your estimation, makes me sick. You do a lot for victims, please don’t alienate so many people by marginalizing these men.

First off, starlight tours have happened historically in the south for decades. Having lived in Florida and having experiences in the everglades, i can assure you that if a starlight tour took place and the missing men were unaware or unaccustomed to being in the everglades it is very likely that they could have fallen into a marsh or been attacked by gators. being in the dark near marshes in Florida is extremely dangerous especially depending on the time of year. Male gators are extremely aggressive and have been know to attack without provocation.

Sherrif departments in the South have history of working with the KKK and other Racist organizations. Literally arresting young black men on false or Trumped up charges. Then releasing them in the middle of the night after tiping off the local KKK.
Also I think a lot people in America have a narrow idea of what a racist is. They think White supremacy Is just some guy wearing a Confederate flag shirt living in some trailer park. They don’t understand structural and institutional racism are in place due to some of this countries most respected and reveared leaders. America was started by revolutionaries and slave owners. We need to embrace and accept that so we can truly move forward with race relations.

i don’t see how a “starlight tour” makes more practical sense than a direct homicide for this case. in the same amount of time for the officer to drive and abandon the victims at a remote location, he could shoot them with his other gun (or kill by some other means) and toss the body in a swamp (or just in some nearby temporary hiding place). There is no obvious motive but there is also the leopold & loeb motive — wanting to experience killing a man, and then again, which would make him a budding serial killer who used his position as a cop. Maybe he wasn’t too bright, or he just didn’t think he would be suspected and/or didn’t expect that these individuals would be missed. He doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt just because he did not get in trouble before. Countless murderers were considered the nicest guys until they got caught